These summaries are written by the NCCMT to condense and to provide an overview of the resources listed in the Registry of Methods and Tools and to give suggestions for their use in a public health context. For more information on individual methods and tools included in the review, please consult the authors/developers of the original resources.

Relevance for Public Health

This guide is particularly relevant for any group interested in establishing a Community of Practice around a particular issue or area of practice that could involve multiple stakeholders and multiple sectors.

Description

This toolkit was developed to help people start or maintain a Community of Practice with the Seniors Health Research Transfer Network (SHRTN). A Community of Practice (CoP) is a key strategy to facilitate knowledge exchange among practitioners, researchers, decision-makers and the community. The SHRTN Collaborative Community of Practice Orientation Guide is a user-friendly toolkit that includes resources, an evaluation checklist and a workplan to help people operate a CoP. A CoP is a group of people who share a common goal or issue and have a desire to learn through regular exchange. A clear comparison of a CoP with a work group, project team or informal network is provided. Knowledge exchange recognizes that knowledge is transferred from one context to another through social relationships and interactions. The Promotion Action on Research in Health Services (PARiHS) theory is based on the notion that knowledge is embedded in practice and social contexts. The PARiHS framework suggests that knowledge exchange is mediated by three factors: the evidence, the context for exchange and the facilitation process for exchanging knowledge. This toolkit includes: an overview of CoPs the life cycle of CoPs quick tips recommended resources evaluation tools a CoP workplan template

Implementing the Method/Tool

Steps for Using Method/Tool

This toolkit suggests that leadership and knowledge brokers of the Community of Practice (CoP) need to identify their group's progression through the stages of the CoP to support the collective. The life cycle of a CoP includes four stages, each positioned in a different context of desire and commitment. The steps of the CoP are:

2. Operating Hold initial in-person meetings to establish or strengthen relationships between group members Identify action items and opportunities for collaborative leverage Negotiate roles and responsibilities Capture and share knowledge from the CoP to advance thinking and practice in the broader community

3. Winding down Examine the value of membership to self and organization Engage in reflective practice Consider factors in deciding what priorities are still relevant for the CoP

4. Refresh/renew Conduct a gap analysis Build a stakeholder map Bring in new potential members

Who is involved

This toolkit is particularly relevant for individuals in a knowledge broker or leadership role to help them develop and maintain a Community of Practice.

Conditions for Use

Not specified

Evaluation and Measurement Characteristics

Evaluation

Information not available

Validity

Not applicable

Reliability

Not applicable

Methodological Rating

Not applicable

Method/Tool Development

Developer(s)

Elizabeth Lusk and Megan Harris

SHRTN Collaborative

Seniors Health Research Transfer Network Secretariat

730D - 43 Bruyere Ottawa ON K1N 5C8

Tel: 1-877-227-6432

Website: http://beta.shrtn.on.ca/

Method of Development

This CoP toolkit was developed by the SHRTN Collaborative, a network that includes the Seniors Health Research Transfer Network (SHRTN), the Alzheimer Knowledge Exchange (AKE) and the Ontario Research Coalition (ORC). The goal of the Collaborative is to improve health care quality for seniors by facilitating knowledge exchange among formal and informal caregivers, researchers and policy-makers. For more information about the SHRTN Collaborative, see their website.